Programme Manager Level 3

Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Programme Manager Level 3 to help us make a difference to our planet through the delivery of world leading supercomputing services.

As our Programme Manager Level 3, the job may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in the office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and the location advertised will be your contractual place of work.

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 30 hours per week and we will also try our best to consider those intending to work a job share. Our people are at the heart of what we do, and we'll do our best to agree a working pattern that works for everyone.

Whilst this is a temporary position for 18 months, initially to manage the Met Office's Supercomputing Programme, there is potential for it to be extended or develop into a permanent position and/or to work on other programmes in the future.

World changing work

From science to technology, from meteorology to management, and from planning to communication, our expertise helps us stand out as the authority on weather accuracy and climate prediction. We help individuals, industries and government to make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. This is the Met Office. This is who we are.

• We’re a force for good - focusing on our environmental and social impact
• We’re experts by nature - always learning and developing to do things better
• We live and breathe it - putting our purpose at the heart of decision-making
• We’re better together - understanding partnerships and inclusivity make us greater
• We keep evolving - pushing boundaries to make tomorrow better for our customers

Job description

Your world of expertise

You will focus on managing the Met Office's Supercomputing Programme, a £1.2bn UK Government Major Project, delivering next-generation supercomputing as a managed service alongside its strategic partner Microsoft.

This is a 13-year endeavour, the programme now being part way through its lifetime, and at a critical juncture closing off delivery of its first phase in parallel entering the next phase which will sustain ever improving capabilities through and beyond 2030.

The programme is delivering the first of its kind Cloud based enterprise supercomputing in combination with strategic investments to ensure we are exploiting the technology to enhance our scientific research and innovation and ultimately delivering improved products and services for our UK and overseas customers and users.

These capabilities are also increasingly critical to the Met Office’s strategic objective to accelerate adoption of Artificial Intelligence ultimately advancing our word leading weather and climate science.

Programme objectives include:

• Ensure the successful delivery of two generations of supercomputing capabilities and associated services consistent with the outsourced managed services agreement with Microsoft.
• Ensure all internal and third-party dependent and enabling capability changes are delivered as needed and are effectively enabling the delivery of the outsourced supercomputing services.
• Ensure the interfaces and interdependencies between these core responsibilities and the wider strategic change activities across the organisation are known and being managed effectively.
• Ensure the changes are effectively implemented into the existing operational capabilities and the organisational services and business continuity capabilities are maintained or enhanced through the relevant transition stages.
• Ensure all third parties are effectively delivering to the organisational strategic plan and are can reasonably adapt to changing Government and organisational challenges.
• Ensure the investment returns are optimised and where needed the delivery is adjusted to support the same outcomes.

Your key duties:

The Programme Manager (Level 3) role is part of the Project Delivery Capability Framework. Full details of which can be found in the government PDCF Framework, with key areas of focus being: Leadership, Business case, Communications & Stakeholder Management, Resource Management, Risk Management, Benefits Realisation, Programme Performance & Controls, Dependency Management and Business Change.

The role involves working externally with stakeholders such as contractors, project partners, as well as internally coordinating the work delivered through several teams across the Met Office. Given the nature of the programme scope, the role involves significant supplier management focus alongside close engagement with commercial contract experts.

The role may require some travel within the UK.

This is an exciting opportunity for you if you have a programme delivery background and interest in managing a high-profile critical programme for the Met Office that sits within the Government Major Project Portfolio, to deliver and evolve the Met Office’s supercomputing landscape https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2025/better-forecasts-ahead-as-met-office-transitions-to-a-supercomputer-in-azure-cloud.

Person specification

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

1. Qualifications and Experience: An experienced Programme Manager, with relevant certifications or equivalent experience, able to demonstrate a track record of successfully managing and delivering programmes in high-complexity environments (characterised as having a high degree of risk, significant uncertainty, politically sensitive, technically complex, or with a large number of stakeholders). (We’re experts by nature)
2. People and Strategic Leadership: Proven people leadership skills, demonstrating the ability to lead, motivate and empower multi-disciplinary and diverse teams to deliver beneficial programme outcomes and have the capacity to understand the wider context and strategic goals of the programme, drawing upon extensive experience to resolve issues, manage dependencies and balance objectives as priorities change. (We live and breathe it)
3. Supplier Management: Well established supplier management skills, ideally including Cloud hyperscalers or large international organisations. This will need to be complimented with demonstratable experience in contract management, supply negotiation or service management.
4. Relationship Management: Ability to proactively manage challenging stakeholder relationships; anticipating and de‑escalating conflict, negotiating balanced outcomes and sustaining delivery momentum under pressure and volatility.
5. Influence: Proven ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders who are typically part of existing contractual and reporting arrangements, as well as multi-disciplinary teams, working to ensure engagement and delivery of results.
6. Communication and Collaboration: Demonstrable ability to build and maintain relationships, unblock barriers and demonstrate the professional credibility required to work collaboratively across programme and organisational boundaries. Clear, confident and compelling communicator (oral, verbal, written, listening and presentation) able to tailor messaging to different audiences. (We’re better together)
7. Business Change: Demonstrable experience in proactively preparing people, teams and organisations for the impact of change, to successfully transition to the future state required by your programme/project to maximise realisation of benefits. (We keep evolving)

Desirable Criteria:

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

1. A solid working understanding of Cloud and/or Supercomputing capabilities and/or experience of working with any of the leading Cloud suppliers or delivering complex outsourced managed services.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £66,953, Met Office contributes £19,396 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is Great Place to Work UK certified. We are also featured on their ‘Best Workplaces in Tech’ 2023, 2024 and 2025 lists, as well as their ’54 Best Workplaces for Women’ 2023 list.

As our Programme Manager Level 3, your total reward package will be up to £92,816 annually, which includes:

• £66,953 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising to 32.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) after 5 years and option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you! Click apply to begin your application. Please complete your career history and provide evidence against each of the essential criteria in the supporting statement questionnaire in no more than 300 words per criteria. We recommend candidates use the CARL method (Context, Action, Result and Learning) for presenting evidence of experience and skills to show both breadth and specific examples.

Closing date: 03/02/2026 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 18/02/2026. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

Using AI in your application

We welcome applications that use AI tools for support in drafting or refining, as long as they accurately reflect your own skills and experience. All hiring decisions at the Met Office are made by people, not AI. For more details, visit our approach to recruitment.

How we can help

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact us at careers@metoffice.gov.uk.

If you’re considering applying and need support to do so, please get in touch. You can request adjustments either within your application or by contacting us. Should you be offered an interview, please be aware there may be a selection exercise which could include a presentation, written test or a scenario-based activity. You can select in your application to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.

We understand that great minds don’t always think alike and as an equal opportunities employer we welcome applications from those with all protected characteristics. We recruit on merit, fairness, and open competition in line with the Civil Service Code.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK - please refer to GOV.UK for information. We require Security clearance, for which you need to have resided in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years to be eligible, 2 of these years must be immediately preceding the point of your application. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact us at: careers@metoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: info@csc.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Resourcing Team
• Email : careers@metoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : careers@metoffice.gov.uk